Hot Water
by BrDPirateMan
Summary: Eri forces the whole gang to go to a Japanese outdoor bath. Raging hormones make the whole experience more than a bit challenging for Neku...
1. Chapter 1

**Hot Water (Part 1)  
**by BrDPirateMan

You know, I was clueless.

I honestly didn't know what was going through Eri's mind when she suggested that we all go to a hot spring to wind down. Being a citizen of Japan I was familiar with public spas, but I had never actually been to one so the mere thought of visiting the Teppeki Spring Inn was enough to conjure all kinds of weird ideas.

Envisioning the girl of my dreams frolicking in a steaming pool without a single shred of clothing on her was… well, let's just say that the one good thing that can be said about this was that I was a perfectly normal and healthy young man. I mean, to have such urges is something that has been imprinted in our genes since the dawn of man.

It wouldn't be all that bad, I figured, if we could have access to isolated baths. There had to be a separate bath for men and one for women.

Right?

XOXOXOXOXO

The whole mess started one seemingly normal, boring, uneventful Tuesday, after school hours. I was having lunch at a fast-food restaurant with Shiki, my cute bespectacled friend, whom I liked a lot; Eri, her fashionable bosom buddy; Beat, the skateboard-wielding joker; and last but not least, his sister Rhyme who was sensitive and mature despite being the youngest in our close-knit group of friends.

Eri was all bright-eyed and smiling innocently when she gave it to us direct. "You know, after our exams, we should all go to an onsen."

We just stared at her like she had dropped a bomb.

"An onsen?" gulped Shiki, fidgeting with her large circular glasses. "A Japanese hot spring?" Like Shiki said, onsen is Japanese for a public spa, usually located near a natural source of geothermic heat to make the water nice and toasty.

"Yeah," Eri squealed, "wouldn't that be the perfect place to relax and release all that tension from studying? I've always wanted to do that, you know. But I never found the time… or the chance."

"But you know, aren't hot springs a bit…" I was searching for the right word, my brain suddenly stuck in a freeze. Then I found it. "…uh, risqué?"

Eri narrowed her eyes at me, her lips curled into a smile. "Ooh… Looks like lil ol' Neku is having some disagreeable thoughts riiiiight here." She poked my forehead with one slender finger cheekily. Shiki was eyeing me a little suspiciously.

"N-No!" I protested, trying to save myself, though my red face gave me away easily. How could a normal guy like me not think of something like that? "It's just… well, I don't know if it's okay…" Beat was looking pointedly away from everyone, apparently trying to push all his fantasies to the back of his mind. Wait, he was the same as me. Why didn't Eri tease him either?

In any case, Eri continued. "So, like I was saying, it'd be great if we could go to an onsen. What do you guys say?"

Beat stammered, "Well, uh, maybe we should think about it first. I mean, Eri, yo! This is kinda sudden, you dig?"

"Beat is right," agreed Rhyme. "We need time to think this through. We'll give you an answer soon enough."

She frowned at the Bito siblings, obviously cross. "Oh, grow some backbones, you guys!" she sighed, exasperated. "This kinda stuff is so common here in Japan. Like, what's wrong with showing a little skin?"

"That's easy for you to say," I retorted, half in jest, "seeing as you're the one who shows the most skin among us!"

"What? I…" Eri realized I was referring to her revealing crop top and mini-skirt ensemble. "Sh-Shut up!" She punched me in the arm. I forgot that she really liked this outfit of hers; she had designed it and Shiki had made it. It would be unwise to make fun of it in any way. She didn't mind constructive criticism, but what I said wasn't it. Nobody looks down on the work of the dynamic fashionista duo and gets away with it, 'nuff said.

As I rubbed where she had hit me, she folded her arms and huffed, "My mind is set." Uh-oh, I hated it when she said those four words. When Eri set her mind on doing something, nothing in the world could convince her to make a change of plans. The apocalypse could be close at hand and we'd all have twenty seconds left to live, but she'd still want to go along with her plans. Never mind if Cthulhu was right behind her. Screw Cthulhu, she would say.

"We are going to the hot springs, and that's final," Eri declared. "Now I just need your approval on this and we're set."

"What approval?" I roared, frustrated at this crazy girl. "You practically forced us!"

"So, make your decision now," said Eri, completely ignoring my ranting and raving. "I'm waiting…"

"What, right now?" Shiki spluttered, incredulous.

"Yes, now."

Rhyme tried to talk sense into Eri. "Eri, look, this isn't something we should rush."

Too late. Eri was still adamant about it. The rock could not be moved. "But every time we say we should think about it, we end up procrastinating and nothing gets done. We should spend more time having fun and less time mulling over things that should be decided in an instant, like dating or giving a speech in front of an audience."

"Y-You sure are impulsive, Eri," I said. _Not to mention foolhardy…_ What, dating was something to be decided in an instant?

"Well," said Shiki hesitantly, "I guess if you're coming along, that'd be fine. I'm scared to go to an onsen alone…"

"Awesome! That makes two of us!" Eri grabbed her hands and pressed them in her own. "I knew I could count on you!" _Yeah, right._

Beat and Rhyme glanced at each other and seemed to be engaged in some sort of secretive, whispery conversation. I couldn't make head or tail of what they were saying, but I hoped that they had the guts and collective strength to counter Eri.

To my dismay, they agreed to go. "Should be okay with us, yo," said Beat. Rhyme simply nodded. _What!_

Eri turned her attention to her last victim. Her eyes had this frightening look… as though she was a lioness giving her prey one final toothy smile before gobbling it up. "Neku…?" she drawled on each syllable of my name annoyingly.

Maybe Shiki, Beat and Rhyme had lost, but I hadn't. I still had some fight left in me.

"I'm not going along with that silly plan of yours, Eri," I said, arms folded in a brave show of defiance. "Sorry, but that's finaaaAAUGAGAGAH!"

Dammit! I knew it was a bad idea to go against Eri, but I didn't think it would be _this_ bad. The girl was pinching me in the ribs! My grunts of pain, which I tried to muffle through gritted teeth, were still very much audible to my friends and in fact everyone in the fast food restaurant. About two dozen eyes, filled with alarm, looked my way. Embarrassment became the word of the day.

And to top it all off, Eri had this angelic smile plastered on her face, enough to disarm the toughest of men. Above the tabletop she was the picture of innocence, but below she was a devil, inflicting great hurt on me, her crime unseen and hidden. She had this to say, smilingly of course, "Hmmm? Did you say something, Neku? I didn't quite hear you."

"Nothing!" I cried, begging her to stop the torture, my face contorting in all sorts of bizarre ways. "Gladly I hot spring agree to go you with!"

As my friends were busy trying to decipher the jumble of words that had come out of my mouth, Eri chuckled, "I don't understand gibberish, Neku, but I'll take that as a yes. Whee! I love you guys. Drinks are on me!... as long as I have enough cash." She checked her purse. "Um, I only have 1000 yen left, so uh… please be a bit thrifty. But you know, it's the thought that counts! Ohohoho!"

Beat just grumbled to himself and buried his head in his beanie, while the rest of us sighed and I tended to my aching rib. I'm sure everyone must have been thinking the same thing. _How did we get into this mess?_

XOXOXOXOXO

Time waits for no man. Exams were soon over and done with. Shiki and I seemed to do pretty well, Eri was safe, and Beat just managed to scrape through. Tests were a necessary (unnecessary?) evil. After the last one, I did feel that perhaps relaxing in a hot spring wouldn't be a bad idea… as long as it wasn't a mortifying experience.

Too bad fate wasn't kind to me, as it would turn out.

Still, while we were chugging down the road in the rickety school bus one day after classes were over, it was incredibly exciting envisioning how Shiki would look like wearing a bathrobe… It only took milliseconds for that mental image to become ten times more titillating, as she appeared before my mind's eye soaking in the steaming water wearing her birthday suit. I could almost see the water droplets running down her smooth neck, trickling down her bare shoulders…

My eyes were closed during my daydreams, and it was only when Shiki bopped me on the head with Mr Mew that I woke up.

"Neku!" she snapped, an eyebrow arched in puzzlement and a little bit of disgust. "What's with that goofy smile on your face? It's creepy."

With my mind still fuzzy I cranked out a hurried answer. "Ah, it's nothing! I was thinking about you in your birthday su – uh, NO! I mean, I was just wondering when you celebrate your birthday. Yeah."

Shiki's gaze did not waver, although her cheeks were starting to show a bit of colour. "My birthday?" she asked cautiously. "Why would you want to know about my birthday anyway?"

Curses. I was stuck. "Well, ah, that is because… uh…"

"That's because he likes you, Shiki," said a voice coming from the seat in front of us. The person who said that was none other than Eri, who has spun round in her seat to face us, arms folded on the headrest and her head perched on her hand. She flashed a naughty smile at both of us.

"Did I hit the bull's-eye, Neku?" she giggled, having fun watching my face reddening along with Shiki's.

"H-Hey, what goes on in my mind is none of your business!" I countered, wishing that the redness on my cheeks wasn't so painfully obvious.

"Hmmm, you know, Shiki, I bet he's dreaming up all sorts of things about the girl sitting next to him," giggled Eri.

The girl next to me? For a second or two Shiki and I couldn't figure it out. Then I realized that the only girl who fit that description was Shiki…

And apparently, she figured it out too. Eri was chuckling harder as Shiki began spouting denials, "What in the world are you going on about? That's stupid." _Stupid?_ My affection for her was so great… and she shrugged it off as "stupid"? Ouch!

"Haha… Enough about Neku for now. What about _you_, Shiki?" teased Eri, persistent as ever. "What have you been thinking about Neku lately? Considering that our onsen trip is gonna be in two weeks' time, your imagination must have been in overdrive… Hee hee."

"What?" spluttered Shiki, causing some of the students to look our way. "I'm not like this sicko. Don't lump me in together with him!" She jabbed a finger into my arm. "If anyone's wrapped up in perverted thoughts, it's just him. He's on his own." And with that she pouted and glared pointedly out the window, away from me. Ouch again!

But my sharp eye discerned a deeper redness on her facial skin. Hmmm… What could it mean? This was interesting…

"Hey, Shiki, just ignore her, yeah?" I tried in vain to laugh the whole matter off. "She's just pulling our leg." But Shiki didn't move a single muscle. "Oh, come on, don't ignore me like this… What have I got to do with anything?" She still didn't budge.

_Thanks so much, Eri,_ I thought gloomily, shooting daggers at the instigator of our little rift. She simply rubbed the back of her head, mouthing a "sorry" my way before plopping back in her seat and giggling stupidly to herself. She was just being playful… She didn't mean any harm, but I guess Shiki was very sensitive with matters like this.

Or could it be that she really was thinking about me too?

XOXOXOXOXO

The day had finally come and all five of us found ourselves inside the lobby of the inn with the onsen. "We're here at last!" whooped Eri.

_Yay_, said the cynical thought in my mind.

She had us all checked-in and our belongings left behind in our rooms in record time. I had to admit she was fast when it came to getting things done. Especially when said things were her brainchild.

We regrouped in the corridor just outside our rooms, where the wooden floor was warm to the touch. For a bunch of guys who initially didn't want to come on this trip, we sure looked cheery. It had been a long while since we spent our holidays together – all five of us – and the prospects were quite exciting.

It was clear that Eri was bursting to say something. What was that strange, slightly evil glint in her eye? Whatever she wanted to share with us was either a very bright idea, or a completely crazy and stupid one. I had the distinct feeling that it was the latter.

"So we're all here at Teppeki Spring Inn," she declared with a slightly haughty tone in her voice, as though she was planning something big and was about to tell us. "Two days and two nights in this place… Don't you think it'll be a lot of fun?"

I cut straight to the core of the matter, uninterested in her theatrics. "Um, is there something on your mind? Something you wish to say? Out with it."

"Wow, way to dampen the atmosphere," mumbled Eri in irritation, the excited look on her face waning slightly. But she quickly bounced back. "Oh well, let's go hit the spa right now. I'm sure everyone's tired from the long journey. What about it?"

"Sounds good to me," said Rhyme.

"Same here, so how about we all go together!" said Eri with a huge grin. Behind that goofy smile I detected a very heavy air of evilness...

"Aight, I'm gettin' tired anyway," said Beat, wiping his brow. "Yo Rhyme, you go with Shiki and Eri. Phones and I will be in the men's section."

That was when the Cheshire Cat grin on Eri's face only got wider. And creepier.

"There's no men's section."

"What?" I sputtered, confused. "What kind of inn doesn't have a men's section?"

"Um, this one?" replied Eri, who was chuckling softly at our reactions.

"Yo, that ain't fair, man!" said Beat, positively annoyed. "You sayin' only women can use the spa? Why didn't you –"

"I never said that," came the cheeky reply. It was just like Eri to keep us in suspense but this conversation was quickly becoming tiresome.

Shiki was thinking things through. As Beat pounded Eri with more useless questions, her eyes widened in realization. She finally understood what was going on. With startling quickness her face glowed a decidedly healthy shade of pink. But why?

"Hey, Eri," muttered Shiki meekly, "You're not joking, right…?"

"About what?"

"A-Are we seriously going to bathe in the mixed section?"

All eyes snapped to the bespectacled girl.

"Shiki," I said so softly it couldn't have been more than a whisper, "What mixed section?"

"I think what Eri's been trying to say," said Shiki, glasses misting up from her own rising body heat, "is that this particular inn has neither a men's section nor a women's one. There's only one mixed section."

Eri clapped her hand on her friend's shoulder. "Bingo! You get a gold star."

Everyone went silent at that last piece of information. The whole corridor became so quiet, the only sounds we could hear was the rippling of water from the hot spring. And if I wasn't mistaken, I thought I heard the sound of my brain snapping.

"What!" I cried out in utter and total shock.

"BWAAAH!" came Beat's reply, as he cringed in that comical coiled-snake posture of his.

I half-expected Rhyme to follow suit with an outburst just like us, but she had more control over her emotions, such was the simple but distinguished younger Bito sibling. Her mouth was hanging open but not a single intelligible thing came out.

"Wh-Why didn't you say anything about this, Eri!" I squawked, not caring that my question ended with an exclamation mark instead of a question mark. Didn't "mixed section" mean the area where both men and women could bathe together? Wasn't this "mixed section" the source of many a horror story about sexual harassment and double entendres? How could Eri neglect to tell us all about it?

"Aww, Neku, you didn't ask," pouted Eri, pretending to look hurt, "and if I told you guys Teppeki Spring Inn had only a mixed section, you wouldn't come for sure. Besides, I already told you the name of the inn we'll be staying at." She flashed a wide, playfully wicked grin. "It's your fault for not doing your research in the first place. Hee hee!"

What she said was right. I couldn't argue with her on those grounds. But still… I wanted to strangle her. _Must… resist… killing… urges…_ From the way Eri was smirking and stifling her giggles, I could tell she was enjoying this... That she-devil… what was the purpose of doing this? What could she gain?

"What? Neku, don't look at me with that icy glare of yours! Wouldn't it be fun for all of us to share a bath together?" Ignoring me again, she announced, "C'mon! Grow up, you guys. There's nothing to be afraid of. So what you are guys waiting for! Don't be shy!"

"We've known one another for a good while now, and even if it's just us, Eri," stammered Rhyme, blushing so hard I thought she would faint, "it's still not right."

"Eh, maybe I'll pass, yo," said Beat, scratching the back of his head.

"I'll be inside my room resting," said Shiki, turning to leave.

"But… Wait! Aren't you guys going to come with me?" Shocked that everyone was drifting back and that her grand plan was falling to pieces, she was starting to sound a little desperate.

"Sorry, Eri," said Shiki, "but I'm not really in the mood for a bath after all."

The same could be said about me. It was Eri's fault for ruining everything. "Yeah, I mean, this is unexpected, you know. I don't feel like it."

"You guys wouldn't come with me to the hot springs? Seriously?" The pink-haired demoness' voice dropped to a quiet and defeated murmur. "You… You guys are no fun."

No fun, she said? She was the one who ruined all the fun in the first place! How could she expect us to have fun when there was no more fun to be had? Did she seriously like to have fun making fun things _un-fun_?

"Look, Eri," sighed Rhyme, in an exasperated tone she rarely used, "we just need to think about this. We never knew Teppeki Spring Inn had just a mixed section for the outdoor bath. So we're going to just mull over it for awhile."

"Though if you want to go by yourself, be my guest," I said, hardly mincing my words.

And almost immediately, I regretted what I said.

Eri's eyes were downcast and set in a depressed face. Her shoulders were shivering slightly, as though she was struggling to stop herself from – could it be? – crying? "H-How… How could all of you be so mean?"

I was taken aback by her unexpected words. "What?"

"I organized this trip so the five of us could have fun together…" she sniffled, the words coming out shaky and unstable. "But why is this happening? Why are we drifting apart?"

"Drifting apart?" Shiki said, confused and worried that her best friend was reduced to tears. "H-Hey, Eri, look, just because the rest of us don't want to bathe now doesn't mean we don't want to –"

"No! Don't… Don't say anything!" Eri choked, turning away and facing her back towards us. We could only stare at her from behind as she continued, "You… You hate me… don't you?"

Beat was clutching his shoulder, his mind probably racing to find the right words to calm her down. "Yo, man, why'd we hate you? You our friend, yo."

"But, but… I forced you guys to come on this trip, didn't I? You're probably mad at me, so you… you… didn't want to…" She couldn't finish her sentence. She was already sobbing. Suddenly I felt bad for her. So maybe she was annoying at times, but perhaps we _were_ being too harsh on her. And yes, she did organize the whole trip, so for us to not participate in the activities she had planned for us was indeed kind of mean. As she carried on weeping, we looked at one another, at a complete loss of what to do to put her heart at ease.

At that point, there was only one thing I could think of to stop her tears, but I wouldn't like it one bit…

"It's okay though," she said, "I'm sorry. I can't force you, after all. I'll… I'll just go by myself…" She sniffed and hid her face in her sleeve.

"Wait, Eri," I said, swallowing hard at what I was going to say and do, and for good reason too. "I'll go with you to the outdoor bath, if you like."

Following that, the first person to say anything was Shiki, exclaiming immediately with a too-loud "HUH?" Yes, Shiki, I knew that sharing the same bath with her would turn out to be arguably the sleaziest thing ever, but it would hurt my pride as a man to leave her crying with no one to comfort her. Beat and Rhyme, on the other hand, were too flabbergasted to add anything to the already awkward and stilted conversation.

Without looking my way, Eri said, "You will?"

"Well, uh, yeah," I mumbled, embarrassed. "I mean, that's what you wanted, right?"

"Why… That's the nicest thing you've said so far," she said, a small smile forming on her lips. "I just wanted someone to accompany me. Having a bath alone is no fun…" She grasped my arm gently with her hand and gave it a light squeeze to express her gratitude. "Thanks."

"Ah, well, don't mention it," I blurted, face turning red from the mere thought of sitting in the bath next to an unclothed Eri. She was beautiful and had a nice body, but I hasten to add that I preferred Shiki anytime! Needless to say, I wished it was my bespectacled gal pal whom I was sharing the bath with, but if she didn't want to come, then realizing that fantastical dream would have to wait.

Or would it?

"D-Don't take it the wrong way though, Eri!" I warned to clear up any misunderstandings, "I mean, I'm not used to onsens…" Shiki had this dark look on her face... she looked like she was glaring daggers at me for some reason, and I gulped. Was there something disagreeable about the way I was handling this situation? Without realizing it, my speech picked up so much speed that it ended up all chopped up and blended. "…and this is pretty weird for me and…"

"I'm going with you too, Eri," Shiki cut in, her voice firm.

"Huh?"

"Neku, I'm sorry. You're a great person," said Shiki, "but I'm just worried about Eri being alone with a guy. I need to… uh, see that everything is in order."

But I was totally trustworthy! What did Shiki think I'd do, grope her best friend? There was simply no way I'd do that. Besides, if I wanted to grope anyone, it would be Shi – uh, well, let's forget about that for now… Didn't she know me well enough from the Reapers' Game to trust me? Didn't Mr Hanekoma say to "trust your partner"? What happened to that trust? Wow, great. Suddenly I felt like a criminal on around-the-clock surveillance.

"So I'm coming along, Eri," said Shiki, scooting up beside me, "that is, if you don't mind."

Eri gazed at her friend, still rubbing tears out of her eyes. "O-Okay…"

"Wait, what?" Beat cried, "Phones is alone in the bath with two girls…? That sounds suspicious, yo!" His sister nodded in agreement. "Sorry, guys, but Rhyme and I are gonna hafta check up on you guys."

"So we're to accompany you, I'm afraid," coughed Rhyme. She was genuinely apologetic. Because although any girl would disagree with me, ruining a guy's wildest fantasies was cruel. Okay, maybe no one in their right minds would think it was cruel.

"Huh. Looks like the whole gang is in on this," muttered Shiki. "Well, that's fine as long as nothing weird happens."

"D-Do you really have to come?" asked Eri.

"Why not, yo!" said Beat. "We can't be sure what Phones here is up to! We're gonna stay in the pool with you!"

I was more than a little miffed at what he said. "Hey!"

"Then it's settled," said Shiki.

"Are you guys for real?" Eri looked a little uneasy.

"Yeah, why? That's okay with you, right?"

Eri sniffed. "Uh-huh… Of course it's okay…"

But then in the next second her face lit up and all traces of her tears mysteriously vanished. Her trademark cheeky devilish grin returned. "It's okay because everyone's coming at last! I'm so glad you guys finally came around. Now we can all have fun in the outdoor bath _together!_"

Eri's laughter reverberated through the corridor. Beat's jaw dropped to the floor. For that matter, so did all of ours. Except Eri's.

"Y-You…" Shiki stammered, "Eri, you…"

I finished for her. "You tricked us!"

"Tricked? That's so rude of you," sniggered Eri, who was laughing so hard that she was clutching onto her stomach and propping herself up against the nearby wall with one hand. "But yeah, you've been had! Oh, this is too good! I can't believe you fell for that! Hahaha!

"I'll be waiting for you in the outdoor bath," she chirped, skipping away. "Don't you bail out now! You made your promise just seconds ago!" She turned the corner of the hallway and all that we saw of her was a strawberry-coloured wisp as she flitted out of sight

Shiki was glancing at all of us in turn, speechless. Beat was bug-eyed, unable to think of any way to get around our crazy little situation. Normally Rhyme had some good ideas, but even she was stumped.

As for me, all I could do was glare at the floor, incensed by the tight spot we had found ourselves in. "We were manipulated by her… just like that… I… I can't…"

I nearly jumped when I saw Shiki's eyes looking right at me. Eyes of hellfire. Under the shadow of Beat's beanie, two orbs glowed bright with the same livid colour. And Rhyme had black smoke billowing out of the top of her head.

It didn't take chicken brains to figure out that they were mad. At me.

"Um, guys?"

Shiki lunged at me and grabbed my throat with both hands. "_This is all your fault!_"

"It's because a' you that we in this mess!" Beat growled, waiting for Shiki to finish, probably so he could give me a good noogie. Oh no.

And Rhyme even said, "You shouldn't have believed that Eri! You _had_ to be so gullible and be _such_ a gentleman but look what happened!"

"But you guys fell for her act too!" I gurgled, trying to pry Shiki's fingers away.

And she let go of one hand to punch me in the ribs. "Shut up!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Hot Water (Part 2)  
**by BrDPirateMan

Eri had this way of twisting people's arms and it worked very well. Somehow she managed to get all five of us in the hot spring, and on hindsight, she was an impressive actress. She could land a part in a drama movie. Better still, she could work for the government as a spy, like a modern-day Mata Hari or something.

Shiki, on the other hand, was terrific at twisting my neck. My poor neck… it hurt so much.

The outdoor bath, lit by a variety of lamps, was populated by a number of people, both men and women alike. Everyone was as bare-bodied as I was, but the funny thing was that most, if not all of the other spa-goers were middle-aged. There was not a single young person to be found. In fact, the only teenagers were us. That made me relieved somewhat. It would be embarrassing if there was a whole bunch of girls frolicking about in full view of us guys.

There was a small artificial island made of rock in the middle of the bath that people could lean against. Beat and I were on one side while the girls were on the other. We were facing away so there was no way I could see Shiki directly without turning around.

Beat had warned me not to do anything weird to Rhyme. She would be joining us, and if I did so much as to think about her in her undressed state, then "I'ma kill you, yo!" as he had put it. Oh please, wouldn't I be the lowest of perverts if I were to fantasise about a 13-year-old?

Besides, with Shiki on the other side of the rock island in the middle of the pool, she was the only thing I could think about. Damn, she was right behind me, along with Eri and Rhyme… but if I turned to look, Beat might mistake me for peeping on his sister. Not good. And I wanted so much to see Shiki without her towel… Well, all that I would be able to see would be above the shoulders, but that would still be nice…

It was too bad. All I got of Shiki was a few seconds of her wrapped in a towel.

Eri's infectious personality had magically dissipated the foul mood, and Shiki and Rhyme, previously more than a little irritated, were now chatting quite happily with her. I couldn't get half of what they were yakking about. Girl talk, I guess.

The tensest among us was Beat, whose overprotective nature made it impossible for him to loosen up. No matter how much I had tried to convince him that I wouldn't think of his sister in a dirty way, he was hardly trusting of me. So how could I find it in myself to relax for that matter, when he was sitting ramrod straight with brows furrowed as though to intimidate me?

Damn, if only I could sit next to Shiki. It would be even better if we were alone…

"Oh no!" Eri cried out, "I forgot to… Hey guys, I gotta go. Take your time, yeah?"

"What's wrong, Eri?" asked Shiki, concerned.

"There's an important phone call I have to make," replied Eri, standing up with her towel around her. "I completely forgot about it. I can't wait either. I've got to make the call now. Meantime, enjoy yourselves, okay?"

"Alright," called Rhyme, as we watched Eri emerge from the pool and scamper off. "See you later, Eri."

Some of the people who had been sharing the bath with us got up to leave. One of the older women caught a brief glimpse of us and smiled to her friend. I overheard her muttering something about how nice it would be if they were young again, and to that her friend nodded in agreement. What was it about growing old that made people forever reminiscent about their younger days? There was only about a handful of people left in the outdoor bath, about seven or eight including the four of us.

Suddenly, Rhyme said, "Oh dear. There's something I have to do. It's really important. Sorry, Shiki, everyone, but I must leave for now."

"Okay, don't rush, Rhyme," said Shiki.

"Hey, if Rhyme's goin', I'ma go too," Beat piped up, following his sister out of the pool.

"Beat! There's no need to come with me. I can do this myself," chided Rhyme.

"No way, yo," said Beat, concern thick as molasses. "My mind wouldn't be at ease if I don't come witchu." He really was overprotective.

"We'll be fine here," I hollered after them. They disappeared along with the rest of the onsen-goers.

I did a quick scan of the pool but no one could be seen except Shiki. The bath was deserted. Not a single soul in sight. Only the scratchy chirping of crickets could be heard, along with the soothing sound of flowing water and the occasional whoosh of the cool night breeze.

It was the very picture of serenity, but upon realization of one important fact, my heart became a thunderstorm of emotions.

Well, Shiki and I were alone…

I gulped. Were we really the only ones left? It had been my secret desire to be alone with her, and in the bath, but wasn't this… a little too easy? Was life supposed to be this good? Surely there had to be a catch somewhere… Life couldn't be smooth-sailing all the time…

On the other hand, if I made the right moves, Shiki would fall head-over-heels in love with me. Hmmm… Maybe I could use this chance to seduce her…

No, no! That's not right! I swatted away the devil sitting on my shoulder and tried to clean out my mind, but his pitchfork was stuck in me, corrupting me slowly but surely. Trying to make things better for myself, I made small talk with Shiki.

"So, uh, Shiki… Um, nice night, isn't it?"

"Uh-huh…" came her meek voice.

"Say, what do you think of this place?"

"It's not bad, I guess… It's… well, yeah, it's not bad."

Something about the way she spoke to me was a little worrying. Sure, she could be quiet at times, such was her personality, but it wasn't like her to be _this_ quiet. She was an interesting girl; she could engage in lively conversations if she wanted to.

"Shiki, what's wrong?" I asked over my shoulder. "You okay?"

"Um… Well, it's nothing really."

"Are you sure? You're not usually like this."

"Well…"

"Shiki," I said, in the most soothing voice I could muster, "I'm your friend. It's okay, you can tell me what's on your mind. But if you don't want to talk about it, it's alright…"

"Oh, you're mistaken," said Shiki, sounding a little more cheerful. "Thanks for your concern, but it's nothing serious at all. It's just… I… I feel unsafe."

"Unsafe?"

"Yeah," she replied, "I'm… all alone in this pool."

"But I'm right here," I said. "Don't worry, everything's fine. I'm here with you."

"No, Neku, look…" Her voice was shaking. "The pool's already empty except for the two of us. And it's already dark and everywhere it's just so quiet that it's creepy… Wh-What if there are perverts lying in wait peeping on me? They could be nearby snapping photos of me… And if they post those photos on the internet…"

"Then I'll take a look at them to see if they turned out right," I quipped cheekily, trying to lift the mood.

"_Neku!_ That's not funny!" Whoops, looks like it didn't work after all. Even though I could not see her, I could just imagine her face glowing red. Heck, I could almost feel her body heat radiating from her entire being. Maybe I was confusing it for the steam from the warm water, though.

"But seriously, there's no need to worry," I said, "Like I said, I'm right here, behind you. If you need help, just give me a holler and I'll come running."

"But Neku… I'm scared. You may be behind me but I can't see you. It feels like it's just me and that there's no one else!"

Hmmm… This was a bit of a quandary. What should I do? Suddenly an idea struck me, and I found myself wondering why I hadn't thought of it earlier.

So I wrapped my towel around myself and stood up to wade over to Shiki's side. She immediately jumped and started shifting away in shock.

"N-Neku!" she shrieked, covering her chest with her towel. "What are you doing? G-Get back!"

"But you said you felt uneasy sitting by yourself," I explained, seating myself beside her, "So I thought it would be best if I sat here to accompany you."

"Wh-Whoa! HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!" She slapped the water surface and flung water in my face. Need I remind everyone that the water was steaming, and while it was normally soothing on the body, it was unbearable on the face?

"Gah! Hot!" I yelped, hurriedly rubbing my cheeks, forehead and everything else in an attempt to reduce the pain. "My face!"

Realising what she had done, Shiki gasped and fussed over me. "Neku! I-I'm so sorry! Please, hold still so I can take a look." She started to examine my poor face, stroking my cheeks and touching my skin with those delicate fingers of hers. "Well, it seems fine…"

"I'm alright, Shiki," I said, though I neglected to mention that being splashed with hot water was an experience I would rather not go through again.

"Sorry, Neku," she said, double-checking to make sure she didn't miss a spot. "It's just… I… I wasn't prepared to…"

At that precise moment, both of us realized that she had gotten disturbingly close to me. The proximity of her body… Had she moved another inch, my arm would be touching her chest... Well, there was no denying that she was stunning. She was already pretty to begin with, but seeing her so near I was able to appreciate her beauty even more. The way her short brown hair framed her face, coupled with her eyes which glowed so brightly, convinced me that she was one fine-looking girl. The steam that rose from the water lent a mysterious aura around her, like fog on a cool morning.

She had been staring at me for as long as I did, seemingly caught up in her own thoughts, before she snapped out of it and broke away in a fit of blushing. "I… I wasn't doing anything weird!" she stammered, plagued by verbal diarrhea. "I was only checking to see if you're alright! I… I…"

I just let her be, choosing not to utter a single word and waiting patiently for her to finish.

"That… I… See…" Shiki was struggling to find the right words. She couldn't. She sobered up from her frantic oh-my-god-what-should-I-do routine, and just looked away from me. She slipped a little further under the surface, obviously uncomfortable with her nakedness in the presence of a guy. I was her most trusted friend, but I wasn't too surprised that she would be far from trusting of me in such a vulnerable situation.

Still, she wasn't ungrateful for my thoughtfulness. "Th-Thank you, Neku…" she muttered, slowly looking at me askance.

"Uh, yeah," I said, my voice barely audible. "D-Don't mention it."

I knew that I was barging in on her comfort zone, but I knew I had to do something to put her at ease, never mind if I was seen as a pervert. Because I knew fully well that I had no ulterior motives behind my actions.

Well, it would be more accurate to say that seeing her bare and unclothed self was a bonus objective…

In the silence that followed I found myself trying to take surreptitious glances at her. I knew that it was wrong of me to do such things, but you know… I couldn't exactly help it. Blame it on my hormones. They made me want to try and make out the curves of her body that lay beneath the water surface. The rippling water made it difficult, though. I settled for her bare shoulders instead, and I caught one or two treasured glimpses of her cleavage, though it was nothing explicit. No matter how careful I was, however, she always noticed.

"Don't peek!" she snapped at me, more embarrassed than angry. But the fact that she didn't run out of the bath in disgust was something of a good sign…

Things were so awkward that Shiki and I could barely do anything but talk in ridiculously short sentences comprising no more than three words.

"So…" I drawled, beginning the chain of silliness.

Her reply was, "Uh…"

"What's new?"

"Nothing much."

"Oh…"

"What about you?"

I paused for a moment to recollect my thoughts which were hopelessly in disarray. "I-I'm fine!" Then I gave a small laugh in an attempt to put ourselves more at ease. It came out dry and rattling, and needless to say, it didn't work.

"Sorry for all this, Shiki," I said, clutching the back of my neck and looking away. "I'm not making things any easier for both of us, am I?"

"To tell you the truth, Neku," she mumbled, "I've never been to a hot spring before."

"Really?" I said, totally surprised. "I'd have thought that you and Eri would have gone at least once or twice by now."

She shook her head. "If this inn had separate baths for men and women, I wouldn't be this embarrassed. Never thought that my first time at an onsen would be in the mixed section, and to make things worse everyone else could have been perverts in disguise!"

I doubted that all those old folks were dirty-minded, but if they were, they were probably feasting their eyes on curvaceous Eri more than Shiki. Wait a minute, now that I thought about it, did I classify as a pervert myself? I considered joking, "Well, _I'm_ not a pervert now, am I?" but decided against it. Better to play safe if I was to move things forward with Shiki. Smutty humour could wait for when we were blissfully together.

"Well, Shiki, I've always been a virgin – uh, I mean, an onsen virgin!" I panicked. "Yeah, that's right, all I mean is that I've never been to an onsen before. Yeah." Dammit, my mouth sure had this bad habit of saying the wrong things at the wrong times!

"Ah, I see…" After that, she didn't say anything else, gazing at her warped reflection in the water.

Not a single word was spoken. But somehow we could more or less tell what the other was thinking. _Do you like me?_ Blame it on pheromones or telepathy, or weirder reasons like karma or even – heaven forbid – imprinting by Players straight from the Reapers' Game. That last possibility made me shudder. What if we truly weren't alone, but were surrounded by dozens of lost souls, secretly watching us and having sadistic fun slotting dirty things into our heads?

What if the Game Master for that week had a brainwave and made this the mission of the day:

_Get Neku and Shiki alone in the hot spring. Then make them do "interesting" things together._

_You have 120 minutes. Fail and face erasure._

_Above all else, have fun._

_Love,  
__The Reapers_

Oh no! If this was the case then it wouldn't be long before we would succumb to our desires. Imagine the horror if that happened! What would become of the two of us? What if we did some… uh, irreversible things…? Holding hands would lead to hugging… then kissing… then… marriage? Oh god, I wasn't ready for such a big responsibility yet! No matter how much I liked Shiki, no matter how sexy she looked soaking in the warm water, I couldn't bear to hurt her feelings by acting rash. And I knew that if I didn't escape soon enough, one thing would lead to another and it would be over for me and her!

I didn't want to leave, but if I wanted to woo her it would be best that I do it outside of the bath. Inside it was just too dangerous.

"Ah, well, Shiki, take your time," I said, wrapping my towel around myself and preparing to leave. "I'm just gonna go back to my room for a bit…" In my mind I apologized to all the Players. They would probably get erased because of me, but my future was at stake here.

Shiki suddenly grabbed my arm before I could even start to stand up.

"No, please," she stammered, her face practically glowing like a neon light, "I… I don't know how long it'll take before Eri returns… and… and… I feel uncomfortable and unsafe staying by myself…"

"Um..." I protested, but it was no use. One look at the fright on her face was enough to halt me in my tracks.

"Please… Neku, stay here a little longer," said Shiki, refusing to let go of me, "At least until Eri comes back."

"A-Alright…" So I settled back in the water, right beside her.

And right then and there, I knew it.

I was doomed.

As memes flooded my head (well, it was just my overactive imagination, mind you), I tried to think of ways to survive this painfully tantalizing ordeal. Shiki was terrified. How could I refuse her plea for help? All I could do was hope that Eri would hurry up so I could leave to live another day.

It wouldn't be so easy though.

Just sitting next to each other naked was enough to trigger a heart attack. My blood was pumping throughout my body at full throttle. I wished I had some tissues handy so I could at least wipe and hide my nose in the very likely event of a nosebleed.

"Neku," Shiki said, breaking the silence, "can I ask you something?"

"Er, y-yes?"

She turned her head slowly, facing my direction. Her eyes were locked onto mine.

"N-Neku," she gulped, "by any chance, do you… do you like me?"

"Wh-What?" Did I hear her correctly? The colour on my cheeks was darkening.

"Do you like me, Neku?" she repeated, awaiting my answer with bated breath.

Was this my golden opportunity to tell her that I loved her? What better time to clue her in than now, when she specifically asked for clarification on my feelings? As much as I wanted to blurt out those three magic words, however, I paused to think rationally. She said "Do you like me" as opposed to "Do you _love_ me". If she was just making sure that I at least liked her as a friend, and I confessed to her, wouldn't that be extremely awkward? She might not even want to see me anymore.

"Like" is so ambiguous! Curse this word! I had no choice but to go for a safe answer.

"What do you mean, Shiki? Of course I like all my friends… so I like you too!" I shot her a disarming smile.

Instead of accepting my answer, she frowned slightly. To my utter surprise she cupped my face in both of her hands. My heartbeat skyrocketed.

"Shiki!" I exclaimed, "What are you doing?" Wasn't she doing something that only lovers should be doing?

"Neku, you know exactly what I mean when I asked you that question," she said with a firm determined voice, although it was quivering somewhat. "I want to know if you're in love with me!"

She saw right through me. What could she have possibly seen to suggest that I had found a romantic interest in her? I had tried to look as calm and cool as I could and not betray any signs of a crush on her. There was no way I could have dropped her any hints. So how did she know? And what's more, she was asking me a question that _I_ was supposed to ask. Weren't guys supposed to take the initiative? I didn't want it to work the other way around…

"Ah, well… I…"

"And I'm not letting go until you give me an answer!" she snapped. "Neku, it doesn't matter if you don't love me… Really, I wouldn't mind if it turns out that you think of me as just a friend. But at the very least, I must know what's on your mind! Now out with it! The suspense is killing me!"

What came over Shiki? Why did her personality make a 5400 degree turn (do the math; that's 30 times) in the blink of an eye? Was she possessed? By Noise? Love Noise? Did such Noise exist in the first place? I didn't know anymore. All I knew is that if I didn't give her an answer, and Eri and the rest came back to see her clutching my face like we were about to kiss… well, I'm sure a lot of rumours would go flying all over the place – something neither Shiki nor I would want.

"Shiki, my… my neck hurts. And this isn't something I can –"

My sentence was cut off. "Answer me!" she said, her voice raised, hands firmly clamped around my cheeks.

That was when I knew that there was no way I could back out of this.

I hesitated to answer the mother of all questions. Even solving a math question about quadruple integrals would be a much simpler task. I also pondered about the effects my answer would have on our friendship. Would Shiki avoid me if she knew I loved her? Or would she reciprocate my feelings, leading to us going out? Or would she say that we could only remain as friends? Here were three possibilities, and only one of them would apply. The chances of getting the most favoured one was one in three. And math class taught me enough to know that 33% was a dishearteningly low number.

Still, since she asked for it, it was worth a shot!

I summoned as much courage as I could and said it in one quick breath.

"ShikiIloveyou."

"What? Speak up! I can't hear you!" Her hands refused to come off.

"Well… uh, isn't this the weirdest place to say something like that?" I said, chickening out again.

"What did I say about not letting go of your face?"

"Alright, fine," I huffed in defeat. She was ever so persistent. Did she learn these tactics from Eri or what? "I'm only gonna say it once, so listen."

"I'm all ears. Now say it." Her hands were trembling.

"Shiki. I. Love. You."

Her face was already red to begin with, but now that she had clearly heard me, it deepened in colour. "I knew it," she said quietly, but with a small smile. "I wasn't wrong after all."

"What?"

"I always kinda figured that you liked me a lot, Neku," she continued, brown eyes shining like diamonds, "but you know, I like you too…"

"R-Really? But, um, before anything else, could you take your hands off of my face? It's kinda numb."

"Oh, sorry!" Shiki released her vice-like grip at last, and the first thing I did was rub my cheeks. I could have sworn her fingerprints were permanently imprinted on them by now. She giggled.

"I'm sorry if I came across as forthright, Neku," she said, "but I just wanted the truth, you know? I was getting kinda tired of dancing around the whole issue but never getting to the point. And now that it's finally resolved, I hope we can be more truthful with ourselves."

That was exactly what I wanted to tell her someday when the mood was right… but she beat me to it, and at a much earlier time too! I wasn't too happy about that, but chose to suck it up.

"So, Shiki… do you like me or love me?" I asked.

"Dummy," was all she said, giggling some more.

"I'll take that as a 'yes, I love you too, Neku'."

"You really are an idiot, Neku," she teased me, "and a pervert too." She poked me in the forehead just like Eri did when she suggested the whole onsen trip.

"D-Don't call me that…" I said, smiling.

The two of us just laughed the whole matter off, but as we were still shy, we didn't dare to look at each other. However, I was glad that we were heading in the right direction. She looked happy, and so was I. I felt contented to sit there in the outdoor bath, surrounded by trees and the light wind with Shiki by my side.

Suddenly my mind conjured up an idea.

_Kiss her. Go on, you know you want to._

I gulped at the audacity of my own thoughts. I had never kissed before… I didn't know whether Shiki already had her first kiss, but I doubt that kissing alone in an outdoor bath with no clothes on was something she had done before. I was toying with the idea and frankly, it was exciting. The question was how to best get around to doing it.

Subtlety was a must. Tact was crucial. There would be no second tries.

However, all those mental notes I scribbled in my head came down to nothing the moment I opened my mouth to speak.

"Hey, Shiki, so, uh, are you ready?"

She stared at me, blinking. "C-Come again? Did you ask if I was ready? Ready for what?"

Oh, shoot! Wrong words! Now she'd think that I was trying to seduce her and invite her to bed! Great going, Neku. My relationship with her would end as soon as it started!

"Ah, no! Sorry! I said the wrong thing!" I blurted, waving my hands frantically from side to side in a "no" gesture. "Forget about it… I'll… I'll just go back to my room for now!" I prepared to stand up and get the heck out of there.

"Hey, wait!" she yelled, clutching my arm and pulling me back down beside her. "Neku… wait."

Oh no. I'll bet she was really angry. I would forever be known as a pervert to her. There would be no way we could be together now. Hmmm…let's see, if Shiki was a no-go, then who else in my class could I hook up with… NO! What was I thinking?

Shiki bit her lip, in deep thought about what to say next. I was racing to think up of an antidote to our awkwardness, but found none.

"Well, uh…" she gulped, "I don't mind if you want to kiss me."

Huh?

"Shiki! H-How did you know what I was thinking?" Maybe it would be alright after all. She didn't misinterpret what I said.

"It's written all over your face, Neku," she said, looking away. "Your body language is practically screaming that you want to kiss me so badly."

"Oh, uh…" I didn't know what to say. The relief was overwhelming. But the excitement was reaching a head.

Shiki eased herself against the rock island, her eyes closed and her head tilted upwards in the slightest bit. Was this the green light for me to go for it?

I pinned her in place. I wasn't rough with her and I didn't force her in any way; my grip on her shoulders was as light as possible, as if to suggest that if she wasn't comfortable with the whole thing, she could break free and bail out if she wanted to. But Shiki didn't move. She stayed where she was. She was trapped… but _willingly_.

Was she really fine with me doing this? My heart beat faster than a machine-gun. I started to move in…

Her face was like one giant tomato and she trembled in anticipation as my breath raked her bare neck.

"Shiki…" I whispered her name as my mouth drew closer to hers.

Her voice had a noticeable tremor in it. "Um, Neku… My towel is slipping… I… I need to…"

Too late. She couldn't finish her sentence. It was but a simple and chaste grazing of our lips, but the very act of our first kiss was enough to blow our brains a hundred light-years into space. I had promised myself that I'd just touch her lips for a second or two and that would be it, but my weak spirit couldn't handle it. I gave in and pressed my lips onto hers fully. She made a muffled sound as though in protest, but before I was tempted to pull away, she began kissing me back.

I wasn't dreaming, was I? Here we were, alone in the hot spring, without any clothes on… and we were kissing? What did I do to deserve this miracle? Did I save a drowning child? Did I rescue a hapless kitten from high up in a tree? Was I a supporter of environmentally-friendly hybrid cars? No, I did neither of these acts of kindness. But before anyone up in the heavens were to misunderstand and use their powers to stop the bliss abruptly, I spoke in my mind that I was thankful I had the opportunity to taste Shiki's lips.

My hands caressed her bare shoulders up and down very very slowly, and the feeling of her smooth skin under my fingertips was so amazing that no words could quite describe it well enough. I wanted to embrace her, but her hands on my chest instinctively pushed me back, preventing me from folding my arms around her body. I guess this was as far as I could go, but even then, it was quite an exhilarating feeling to even be so close to her naked self in the first place.

She was shaking from my touch, but that didn't stop her from chewing my lips with such shocking enthusiasm. By instinct, our heads angled a tiny bit to deepen our kisses, and wow… it felt so out of this world.

I could tell Shiki liked making out with me. She was moaning into my mouth.

"Neku… Aah… Mmm…"

Oh god, that sound! It was the loveliest music to my ears. Every time she purred with delight I could feel myself one step closer to insanity. Any minute now, I was going to blow up in an explosion of rampaging hormones. I kept telling myself, _Must resist male urges, must resist male urges_, but even that was failing. Shiki was too delicious for words. I needed to eat her up… and I was so hungry... Damn, I wondered if she felt the same way about me; for a normally shy and reserved girl, she had an unnaturally voracious appetite…

However, scarcely a minute had gone by before our little mouth-to-mouth session was rudely interrupted.

We heard voices. Shiki plucked her lips away from me and glanced over her shoulder. I followed her gaze and subsequently panicked.

A couple of shadows was moving about in the doorway, partially hidden by the paper flaps that hung from the top. Someone was coming to use the bath!

For a second we froze on the spot. I could make out our unwelcome visitors to be two men probably in their early twenties or so.

"You sure this hot spring is mixed?" asked the first guy.

His friend replied as though to console him, "Hey, don't worry, man. I read the tourism booklet to and fro. It's one of the more famous onsens in Japan."

"So, we'll get to see some hot chicks, right?" At this, Shiki's face turned paper-white.

"If we're lucky."

They were coming in! Oh no, this was a very bad situation I had here. Although, to be honest, I had trouble debating over which was worse: someone seeing us making out in the pool, or a couple of lechers looking out for girls like Shiki.

"We have to hide! I can't let them see me! Or us, for that matter; that would be most embarrassing!" whispered Shiki urgently, shrinking deeper into the water.

"But how?" I asked, breaking into a cold sweat. "Like, under the water? We'll drown before we even –"

"No, idiot! The island!" She jerked her head towards her left. I saw that the far end of the island was rather tall like a wall, and could easily hide us both if we stayed behind it.

"Okay, got it."

"You have to help me hide, Neku!"

"I will. Now come on!" I speedily ushered her towards our hiding place, and no sooner had we settled down, the two young guys sauntered in and immersed themselves in the bath.

"Huh, no girls here," muttered the first guy. "Not even a single old lady."

The second guy said, "Dude, what you said just now sounds so wrong."

The rock outcropping was large enough to conceal a single person, but not wide enough for us both. So we had to stack against each other like a pair of cards. That seemed to work. I felt like some kind of secret agent with my back pressed against it. Neither of the intruders noticed us, which was good. Mission accomplished.

I breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, they wouldn't see us now… I hope."

"This feels so obscene," said Shiki, in a hushed voice to avoid detection. "I can't believe for one minute that we're doing this."

Because there wasn't enough space, Shiki was forced to sit in my lap, right between my legs, pressing her body against mine. I was having trouble keeping my mind from disintegrating, no thanks to the feeling of her back and butt on my entire being. Wow…her skin was nice and soft…

We hadn't even started going out – heck, we only just had our first kiss together – and now we were in this ridiculously intimate position like we were lovers? And we were both naked too! This was all too much for me. Not to say that I didn't enjoy it – what normal guy wouldn't like the sensation of a girl's skin on theirs – but my blood pressure was now so precariously high that any moment now, I knew, my blood would burst violently out of my nose in a gruesome geyser.

I felt like fainting. _No_, I told myself, _have courage!_ It wouldn't do to lose consciousness in a place like this and with Shiki firmly wedged against my frame. Gotta stay calm… I closed my eyes and tried to forget that I was squashed between a hard place and a soft one... Perhaps thinking about my favourite music would do the trick. In fact, it was actually working quite well when I found myself silently bopping my head to the tune of one of the songs from a favourite rock band of mine, until…

"Um, Neku?" squeaked Shiki in a small voice. "Wh-What are you doing? Don't touch me!" She shot me a death glare from over her shoulder.

Confused, I said, "What? I'm not touching anything."

"Yes, you are!" she insisted.

"But my hands are free."

"A-Are you sure?"

"Why do you ask?"

She just stared at me and started to blush madly. Looking away sharply, she was silent for several seconds. After that brief pause, she stuttered, "W-Well, I certainly hope that it's your knee that's poking into the small of my back right now."

Oh, the horrors! She was right. Something was jabbing into her back, but that most definitely wasn't my knee! And to make matters worse, it seemed to be, uh… well, when you blow up a balloon, it grows in size; it's an analogy for what was happening to my... you know.

"Eep!" Shiki shuddered, as she felt another prod in her back. With teeth gritted she glared back at me. "S-Stop it! You pervert!"

"It's not like I can do anything, Shiki!" I protested. "I can't control it! It just –"

Her hand shot up to my lips and pinched them shut like a Ziploc bag. "Don't say it!" she snapped, cringing. "Don't you _dare_ say anything!"

"Sorry!" I said, "But it's not like you're making things any easier for me! Plus, it hurts when you sit on it like that!"

"Shut up!" She blushed even harder. "Just. Shut. Up."

"Hey, man," said one of the two guys who were soaking in the bath, "I thought I heard voices. And was that a girl's voice?" Shiki and I held our breaths.

"Nah, I didn't hear anything," dismissed his friend. "Your imagination is way too active, pal. Must be from all the years of being without a girlfriend." He chuckled.

"Yo, that's uncalled for," snickered the first guy, laughing.

_Girlfriend, huh…_ Shiki and I sealed our love for each other with that amazing kiss… So did it mean that she was my girlfriend at last? I never thought I'd see the day when someone like me who previously hated people would end up a changed man and with a sweet girl by his side. What path would we head down next? It was still too early to say. But if all went well, we would be going on dates for a good while…

My reverie was broken by Shiki's clearly irritated voice. "I should have gone behind you," she said, squirming uneasily. "But if we swap positions now, they'll notice."

"Sorry, Shiki. M-Maybe next time," I said stupidly.

"What do you mean, 'next time'?" she seethed, her entire visage painted with a vivid rose hue.

"I said sorry!"

We just sat there in the steaming bath trying to stay hidden, listening to the two friends chatting and exchanging dirty jokes, many of which, while funny, only made our situation even more awkward. I wondered when they would leave. We just wanted to get the heck out of that place. Those two idiots had been in the bath for barely five minutes, but it felt like an hour. And all the while Shiki was jammed into my person like a hot dog in a bun – oh, god! What a horribly inappropriate simile! We hadn't even gone to the "nudge nudge, wink wink" stage, for goodness' sake!

"I'm getting hungry," said the second man. "Wanna go grab something to eat?"

"Eh, that's fine with me," replied the first man, standing up from the bath together with his friend. "It's not like there're any girls to look at anyway. It's so boring."

As soon as they were out of sight, Shiki immediately pulled away from me. Her face was completely flushed as she reached behind her back to rub at the place where she was stabbed (bluntly) for almost five minutes.

"Sorry about that, Shiki," I mumbled, embarrassed myself.

"Never mind. F-Forget about it," she said, coating herself with her towel and getting up. "Come on, let's get out of here. I know Eri and the others will be back, but I think I've had enough of hot springs for one day!"

"Yeah, me too."

XOXOXOXOXO

The breeze was cool and very refreshing on my skin, which was sufficiently warmed from both the bath and…another reason.

I stood there by myself at one of the many outdoor corridors of the inn, taking in the calmness of the night. So many things had happened ever since we arrived, and I just wanted to chill and rearrange all my thoughts. When I mulled over how I could have ended up in such a totally impossible situation back at the bath, I couldn't help but wonder if it was a coincidence or just pure dumb luck. Wait… they're both the same thing.

Either way, I was still shivering just from thinking about how smooth her skin was. I never thought that a cute, innocent girl like Shiki would be such a temptress. And she wasn't even trying.

"Heh…" I chuckled quietly to myself, gazing languidly at the moon. "Best bath ever…"

"What are you mumbling about?"

"Whoa!" Completely taken in by another one of my daydreams, I failed to notice that Shiki had sidled up beside me. "Shiki! Don't scare me like that!"

"Daydreaming again, I see," she sighed, clutching Mr Mew in her arms like she always did.

"You brought Piggy along for the ride too?"

"Hey, he's a cat," she said, smiling and gently buffeting me in the head with her soft toy. She seemed to be in a good mood despite all the nonsense that happened only an hour ago. "What are you doing here?"

"There's a nice wind out," I replied, "And it's so noisy in there, what with Beat and Eri duking it out at table tennis. What's the score?"

"Beat's losing," Shiki chirped. "I think Eri has eleven points against Beat. He's frustrated that he can't defeat her."

"Is he a newbie at this game?"

"No. That's what makes it even sadder."

We shared a round of laughter before turning our sights to the beautiful moon. Or rather, it was more like she did, because I was busy stealing glances of my very first girlfriend (and hopefully the only one). She looked great in a yukata; that's Japanese for robe, especially the ones they use in hot spring inns such as this one. She wasn't a head-turner like Eri was, but she was still pretty. Something about the yukata brought out her simple beauty even more and magnified it.

"Neku," she said quietly, "you know what?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm really happy to be here."

Even though she didn't directly say it, I was sure she was talking about being with me that made her happy. I was happy too, and gave her a smile. Then I remembered the hot kiss we shared while soaking in the bath. Unforeseen circumstances had forced us to stop halfway through, though it only led to an even hotter situation. Still, to have a kiss cut short was something that chagrined me deeply. But now that everyone else was inside either having fun playing table tennis or feasting on the inn's culinary specialties, we were alone with no one to disturb us.

And we were standing in the presence of such beautiful scenery, with the moonlight beaming down on us. It was so romantic.

"Hey, Shiki," I started, getting sweaty palms. She looked at me expectantly. "Well, we kinda got sidetracked back at the bath… D-Do you want to, uh… keep on… um…"

Dammit, not now. I didn't want to get cold feet now. The best time to get closer to Shiki had presented itself to me! It was a beautiful night, the moon was full and bright, and the planets had aligned in a straight line. I didn't wish to throw away an opportunity that the forces of the universe had come together to produce just for me. Yet, after what happened, I felt it would be inappropriate to make such a simple (simple?) request as to kiss.

After wrestling with my emotions for a bit, I eventually gave up. "Um, Shiki… never mind. It was nothing, really. I kinda forgot what I wanted to say all of a sudden."

She knew better, though. "You don't seem like the sort to get Alzheimer's disease so young, Neku."

Oh dear.

Looking away, she whispered, "I-It's alright if you want to kiss me."

She's a sharp one, alright.

"Are you sure?" I asked, very politely. "If the incident at the bath was too crazy for your taste, and you change your mind, I can understand."

She frowned and took my hand in hers. "Stop being so wishy-washy and pessimistic, Neku. I'd hate to see you go back to your old emo self again."

"Huh?"

"No matter what, I still love you, Neku. You love me too, right?"

"That… Yes, of course I do."

"Then there's nothing to worry about!" said Shiki, smiling and exasperated at the same time. I noticed she was coming closer, eyes shut. "Now shut up and kiss me already."

_Go for it, Neku_, I thought. I gently wrapped my arms around her waist, and she did the same around my neck. She leaned up towards my face, and I closed my eyes, waiting for the sweet taste to permeate my mouth when our lips would connect. Closer. Closer…

"OW!" I yelped all of a sudden. "Ow! Shiki! My toes! You're stepping on my toes! OW OW OW!"

"Huh?" She looked down. In an attempt to move in closer to me, she had accidentally trodden on my foot, which was exposed from wearing sandals. And her sandals happened to be the hard wooden Japanese variety that some people favoured. The pain was excruciating and I thought my toes would dislocate.

"Sorry! I'm sorry!" she exclaimed, leaping back and away. Unfortunately, my arms were still circled around her, and when she forcibly moved away from me, she pulled me along with her. As a result, both of us lost balance and tumbled to the floor. My swift reflexes allowed me to shield the back of her head with my hand. I was able to prevent a grave injury from happening to her. But my hand took the brunt of the fall and got crushed; at least, that's what it felt like.

"Argh!" I cried, feeling a sharp pain in my right hand.

"Ow!" Shiki was saved from a potentially fatal injury, but falling down was still at best a painful experience, and she was groaning. "Ow, that hurt… Neku, you clumsy oaf…"

"Urgh… Sorry…"

Even with the pain and all, Shiki and I were quick to notice that we were hugging each other so closely. Her yukata had slipped a little from the fall and her cleavage was exposed only very slightly, but it was enough to induce all kinds of crazy fantasies inside my head. Our eyes met and locked with each other, registering a growing need to satisfy our romantic urges.

"N-Neku…"

"Shiki, I…"

Just then, the nearby doors all burst open and people flooded out. Among them was Eri, who had come with Beat and Rhyme.

"What happened out here?" shouted one of the men.

"We heard screams!" she called, concerned. "Is anyone hurt? Is everyth –"

Upon seeing the harrowing sight of me embracing Shiki on the wooden floor, everyone went wide-eyed, like they saw a ghost.

"Er…"

"Um…"

"Buh?"

Suddenly, the whole situation became so unromantic, even the moon looked like it was frowning and the decorative greenery seemed to wilt and die pathetically.

No one could utter a single word. Even Beat couldn't go into "BWAAAAH!" mode. Instead, he blinked furiously like an idiot, while his sister Rhyme was rooted to the spot. Eri's mouth refused to close, hanging open so wide her entire wardrobe of clothes could fit inside. And she had a lot of clothes.

It must have looked like I was doing something positively evil to Shiki.

Shiki's face, previously beet-red, had now turned ashen. She had been caught in an uncomfortable and potentially scandalous position with me. Eri did not take too kindly to weird things happening to her best friend… She was kind of like a big sister to Shiki in the sense that she was always on the lookout for guys who would dare to hurt her in any manner.

Guys like me. Uh-oh.

As I watched Eri's right eye begin to twitch in growing rage, I made a quick mental calculation. How many seconds left did I have before I would die in the hands of the angry pink-haired girl? How much was half of sixty again? Suddenly math wasn't my favourite subject anymore. Then again it never was.

And something told me I had less than that amount of time anyway.

"Y-Y-Y-Y…" She was so mad, she could hardly form an entire word. I think she meant to say "You…"

"Phones… How could you…" Beat's eyelids were still opening and closing at an alarmingly rapid rate, like a living stroboscope.

Rhyme was shifting closer to Beat, using him as a shield from the madness as she hid behind him. Everyone, on the other hand, remained motionless and shocked as ever.

"Neku… You…" Eri growled, her fists clenched so tightly that her knuckles had turned white. "What… What did you do to Shiki?"

"I…! I didn't do anything!" I yelped, jumping off of Shiki. "I wasn't doing anything to Shiki, I swear!"

Despite that, one of the middle-aged women in the group, having seen us in that decidedly obscene position, started to scream. "M-M-MOLESTER!" she yelled her lungs out, running inside like she was on fire, presumably to alert everyone else. "There's a molester in our inn! Quickly! Catch him!"

"Wait! He's telling the truth!" Shiki cried out, "We were… well… He's innocent! We… Er…" She blushed again, thinking back to the make-out session we just had. Suddenly she was at a loss for words.

Eri was not convinced at all. "Neku, I can't believe you would… and to Shiki…"

How in the world were we going to explain our way out of this one? No, more precisely, how was _I_ going to make it out of this mess alive? Eri trusted Shiki; they were the best of friends. But me? After seeing me in what appeared to her as an attempt at raping her friend in public, I was sure of an answer: no.

"Oh, Neku… You are sooooo dead." Eri said, her hair looking like writhing snakes now. For one moment, I thought she would turn me to stone with her piercing glare. One of the women grabbed Shiki and pulled her to safety, while some of the men had formed a semicircle around me. There was no way I could run even if I wanted to.

"Eri, wait!" I blurted, panicking as she advanced in my direction menacingly. "You… You got it all wrong! We… I wasn't doing anything weird to her! We're just… We're –"

"I'LL KILL YOU!"

Eri launched herself at me and started strangling me. I tried to stop her, but who could stop a raging woman? Shiki tried to break free from her protector's grasp and calm her friend down. She wanted to pull Eri away from me, and tell her that I wasn't a pervert and give various other reasons why she shouldn't slaughter me. But do you think the pink-haired witch listened? Of course not. She just continued to choke the life force out of me while the men watched me with hate.

"Go to hell!" she screamed.

"Yeah! That's it!" shouted one of the onsen-goers. "Show that pervert! Let's keep him busy till the police arrive!"

"Eri, stop!" Shiki was pleading. "Everyone, please listen to me!"

"I know a pervert when I see one!" Eri snarled, tightening her grip on my poor neck and shaking me back and forth repeatedly like the rattle on a rattlesnake's tail. "I'll get him for this!"

"Gak!" I was choking. "B-Beat! Help!"

However, through the gaps in the crowd, I discovered that Rhyme had fainted from the immense shock and Beat had propped her up against the wall, shaking her by the shoulders, shouting if she was alright. He was too preoccupied with his unconscious sister to help me.

Trying to pry Eri's fingers loose was next to impossible. Was I going to die before I even had a proper date? I didn't want to die so young… No…

Help me… Someone…

XOXOXOXOXO

And that was how I died. Eri killed me. With her bare hands.

The end.

XOXOXOXOXO

Okay, I was just kidding. I'm still alive. I'm no ghost. And no, I had not died, gone to the UG, played the Reapers' Game and won so I could be reincarnated. None of that happened. I survived, okay? Simple as that.

Shiki managed to persuade everyone that I was no pervert out to prey on unsuspecting girls. Somehow, everyone at the inn believed her. Even the policemen who had come to check things out. I was cleared of all accusations, thank goodness. But I had never been so scared of a police officer in my whole life.

Ironically, Eri, Beat and Rhyme found it the hardest to trust me.

When we took the bus back home, Eri made it a point to sit in between me and Shiki to prevent me from causing any more "grievous harm", so she put it. The eyes of that devil woman were glaring at me the whole time with so much hate, that the only way to truly dispel her anger was to get a priest to exorcise her. I could do nothing but look out the window sheepishly, hoping that she wouldn't flare up again and try to murder me.

At one point during the trip, I remembered thinking, _I sure could use that priest right about now._

As a result of that whole episode, Eri hated my guts for a long time. Beat was convinced that Shiki and I had done… uh, you know… Oh, and he disliked me for awhile, too, because he was mad that Rhyme ended up traumatized. Despite Shiki telling her numerous times that it was all a great big misunderstanding, she remained uncomfortable around me. I guess the image of what looked like me doing something dirty to Shiki was something she wouldn't forget for a long time to come.

At least the hostility wasn't permanent. It did wear off, but until then I lived in the doghouse.

Oh well, at least Shiki was supportive of me. She was such a sweet and caring girl. And thanks to our experience at the onsen, we've become much closer than before.

"So how's the ol' neck today?" she asked one day. "And your hand doesn't hurt too much, I hope?" We were sitting together on one of the benches on the highest floor of 104 Building. From where we were, we could clearly see the cityscape of bustling Shibuya.

"My hand is fine now, but I can still feel her searching fingers on my neck." Thinking back to that day chock-full of craziness, I couldn't help but shudder.

"That's Eri for you," she grinned, head propped up in her hand. "A whirlwind of energy from start to finish."

"I doubt she was enjoying what she was doing to me that day," I said.

I thought I could feel invisible hands stroking against my neck, and figured for a moment that Eri was around, but when my own hands shot up to check, I was safe. Shiki merely giggled at me. "Well, you got us caught in the act because you had to scream so loudly. Don't real men rein in their pain? Hee hee."

Tired of protesting, I made a low grumbling sound instead. She found it cute.

"But, that said, Neku," she brought her voice down to a whisper. "I-If it's alright with you, could you… I mean, could we…"

I cocked one eyebrow in curiosity.

"…could we… pick up where we left off that day at the onsen?"

I had to recall the previous events for a few seconds before I understood what she meant. When it finally clicked in my head, my heart skipped a beat. She actually wanted me to…

We gazed into each other's eyes, knowing fully well what we wanted so much. Come to think about it, we haven't found the time to kiss yet, which was puzzling considering that we were now going out. Still, there was one pressing concern…

"You know, Shiki," I mumbled, "there are still people here. Perhaps we should go to a more… private location. I mean, if something happens, I don't want another misunderstanding to rear its ugly head. I don't want to get arrested."

She laughed, slapping me on the back. My wit could be really good at times, I knew. "I'm cool with that," she said, smiling broadly.

Five minutes later in a relatively deserted corridor of the building, we were still busy smooching each other passionately as I gently pressed her against the wall for fear of crushing her. What was it about kissing that was so addictive? Was it the softness of Shiki's lips? Was it the way her body fit so perfectly against mine? Could saliva taste so good? Maybe it wasn't the saliva because really, it couldn't, but whatever the reason, I couldn't let go. Neither could she.

My arm was around her, fondling the small of her back slowly. But it traveled too far downwards and my fingers grazed the top of her buttocks. She let out a small scream of surprise, after which she pinched me in the arm.

"Ow!" I yelped. "It's just… my hand kinda slipped!"

"No touching my butt, bad boy," she snarled. She wasn't particularly angry though. More like she was amused.

"Sorry… you're just… too cute. I'm not a pervert now, am I?" I smiled.

"Well, no…" Without any further words, she launched her face into mine and we kissed again for a brief period of time before we eventually stopped, exhausted. She laid her head on my chest and my heartbeat was pounding against her ear. And if she could hear it, and I knew she could, she'd know that it was beating at about a thousand beats per minute.

She gave a satisfied sigh and I half-expected her to sleep in my arms because I saw that her eyes were firmly closed.

"Shiki," I whispered, parting her silky brown hair from her ear, "hey, you can hear me, right?"

"I'm awake, dummy," she mumbled, snuggling into my chest. She felt so good as I stroked her head. "What is it?"

"I was thinking, well, when we get the chance, we should go back to Teppeki Spring Inn… but just the two of us…?" The last few words made all manner of tantalizing fantasies appear within the confines of my mind. Shiki and I alone together in the same place without any disturbances from our friends (especially violent, strangle-happy Eri)… There was not a single thought in my head that was rated safe for kids.

I half-expected Shiki to rip herself free from my embrace and yell at me for propositioning… uh, I mean, proposing such an idea. But fortunately for me, she didn't. In fact, she beamed at me, simply saying, "I'd love that, Neku."

Well, to make a long and strongly suggestive story short, Shiki and I had a most wonderful relationship. And while it wasn't rose-coloured the whole time, at least we were well aware of the knowledge that we were more than just friends. Till this day we're still going strong. Needless to say we were the happiest couple in the world.

**Author's note: This story appears to be complete, but there is still one last part to go: a short epilogue that I will post very soon. So watch this space!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hot Water (Part 3 – Epilogue)  
**by BrDPirateMan

Unknown to Neku, his blossoming relationship with Shiki was the result of many hardworking souls.

Somewhere in the UG, the current Game Master was chuckling to himself. It was the end of a grueling week in the Reapers' Game, but as all the Players were strong and motivated, many had survived and were awaiting his decision to pick who would be brought back to life.

The Game Master smiled as he looked at the sea of Players who had been waiting in expectation for his answer. Not wanting to keep them in suspense for much longer, he spoke.

"Aight, you guys have been awesome," he said, stroking his hair back over his head, "and I just got special permission from both the Conductor and the Composer for the final decision, which I want to personally tell you about. And guess what?"

The Players could hardly contain their excitement, and for good reason too.

"You all get to return to life!" he yelled, arms raised in the air majestically. "Good Game, all of you. And thanks. Now get out of here and have fun in the RG!"

As Player after Player disappeared in lots of pretty sparkles and got reincarnated, they cheered and whooped with joy. Before long the Room of Reckoning was but an empty white chamber. Gazing at the vast space devoid of Players, the Game Master laughed softly to himself, feeling very pleased indeed as he sat back in a swivel chair and started spinning round and round like a top.

"You're going to get dizzy, idiot," said the Conductor as she sauntered into the room. "And seriously, I don't know how you managed to convince me, but this was pretty foolish if you ask me."

The Game Master slowed down and dug his heels into the floor, momentary giddiness marring his senses. When he recovered, he smirked. "Come on, now, Uzuki. Haven't you heard of a change of heart? I may have been a Harrier before, erasing Players, but now that I'm Game Master, I can bend some rules as I see fit, right?"

"But Kariya," said Conductor Uzuki, a clawed hand in her blazingly pink hair, "this is still ridiculous. You made your missions super easy, and out of all of them you had to make the Players peek at that emo boy and his girlfriend while they were bathing together in the onsen. I mean, what gives? You're a pervert."

"No, I'm not. And peeking wasn't the mission," retorted Game Master Kariya coolly. "I just told the Players to mess around and imprint stuff into those lovebirds' heads until they got to kissing. Besides, I'm sure they loved it!" Uzuki rolled her eyes to the heavens. She grabbed hold of another swivel chair and sat on it backwards, with the back of the chair in front of her and her arms resting atop it.

"As it was a surprisingly complex mission, I was there, too, you know," said Kariya, "to… ahem, oversee things. There were a few –"

"I'll kill you if you were there to ogle at Shiki's naked body," hissed Uzuki.

"Why would I look at her? Besides, I've got you." He gave his friend a cheeky wink.

"Sh-Shut up," Uzuki snapped, blushing rapidly and hugging the back of her chair tighter to her chest. "Anyway, you wanted to say something. Spit it out."

"Yeah, there were a few things that had to be done to make the mission a success. First, the Players had to imprint memes into the minds of everyone in the bath so they could leave Neku and Shiki in peace. That also meant 'controlling' their three friends."

"The three friends?" said Uzuki, thinking for a bit before the light bulb lit up. "Oh, you mean Skater Boy, his little sister and the girl with the oversized hat."

"They have names, Uzuki," sighed Kariya, amazed at her don't-give-a-damn attitude. "Beat, Rhyme and Eri. Anyway, it doesn't matter much now. Once they were gone, the next phase began. Here, we repeatedly implanted memes into their heads. Half of the Players were assigned to Neku and the other half for Shiki. When I saw all the memes that they had written… My, it was all positively seductive! Really, I was glad all of our Players for this week had great Imagination. It was no wonder the two eventually got to kissing."

"Did you take part in the mission yourself? I mean, you're Game Master, but…"

"Ho yeah, indeed I did," laughed Kariya, swinging left and right in his chair. "I know the Game Master usually doesn't get involved until Day 7, but this was too much fun. Guess what meme I gave Neku?"

"What?"

"'_Sit next to Shiki'_."

"Was this during the time when Shiki got scared?" Uzuki grabbed Kariya's shoulders to stop him from moving; watching him was making her dizzy. "So Neku decided to accompany her because of you?"

"What can I say, I'm such a genius," Kariya smirked, sucking on his lollipop.

"Okay, then what happened next?"

"The main aim was to get them to kiss. Sitting together isn't enough to get things rolling! But as it would take time for them to get comfortable with each other, some of the Players had to distract Eri and company to stay away from the bath long enough. With their own memes, of course."

"How did you get Romeo and Juliet to swap spit?" asked Uzuki, curious despite her normally serious approach to work. "I mean, what memes were used?"

"I remember that one of the memes for Neku was _'Kiss her. Go on, you know you want to'_," replied Kariya, "Forgot who thought it up, though. Someone else did the same for Shiki. After that everyone just piled filth into their minds."

"I can imagine how anyone would have fun with that," said Uzuki, hiding a small smile behind her hand. There was no way she could let him see that she was secretly enjoying listening to his tale. It would ruin her standing as a Conductor.

"And thus the prince and princess finally had their first kiss! Brilliant, huh?" Kariya pushed his tinted glasses up his nose. "And to make things more exciting, I myself decided to make those two guys come to the bath while they were still kissing. With memes, naturally."

"You mean the skirt-chasers?"

"Only one of them is. But yeah, with them in the way, Neku and Shiki had no choice to hide behind that big rock… uh, thingy. Can you even start to imagine the fun they had glued to each other?" Kariya was having a fit laughing at his own genius.

"You really _are_ a pervert, Kariya," groaned Uzuki. "If you're so smart then you would have at least saved him the trouble of almost being killed by Shiki's gal pal!"

"Oh, yeah, that's right," said Kariya, recalling that incident, "The day's mission was complete, so none of the Players were present by the time those lovebirds were out of the bath. I hung around, curious to see how Neku was hitting it off with Shiki. But I didn't foresee them being ambushed by everyone, so I couldn't do anything to save him. It was too bad…"

"Why Neku Sakuraba and Shiki Misaki of all people?" Uzuki asked. "Why pick these two in particular for that mission anyway?"

"What, you forgot already? Then you owe me ramen," said Kariya, grinning. "Neku played the Game a total of three times just to get Shiki back to life. If that's not true love, I don't know what is. Seriously, they're not bad kids. All I did was give them a little prod in the right direction. And what better way than to get the Players to do the job?"

Suddenly, a deep booming voice interrupted their conversation. "Alright, that's enough. This is no time to relax…"

Uzuki and Kariya stood together, the former brimming with respect, and the latter slouched slightly, sucking his lollipop despite the presence of their superior before them. The person in question was coloured in shades of white and grey, gazing at them with dark grey eyes.

"Yeah, I know, Sir," said Kariya, letting the smallest of sighs escape from his lips. "I gotta plan out next week's Game, right?"

"Get to that immediately," said the person with the great voice. "And let this be the last time I grant you any favours. I gave you permission to reincarnate all the Players because they succeeded in your silly little mission…" Kariya felt a pang of annoyance. _Silly?_ he thought, _I just helped a couple get together for life!... I hope._

"But as the Composer," continued his superior, "I cannot allow you to make such demands anymore. This Sakuraba boy was once someone I used to know, but that is all in the past now. I do not harbour any feelings of comradeship for him whatsoever. How _you_ do, on the other hand, I do not understand. But in any case, make next week's Game a good one."

Uzuki and Kariya looked at the Composer, waiting for His next sentence. But all He said was, "That's all. See you tomorrow." He walked away and vanished into the light.

"You hear that, Kariya?" said Uzuki, nudging her friend in the elbow. "Time to get serious! If I were you, I'd make the week so darn hard, no one would survive!"

"But then where's the fun of it?" asked Kariya. "Ah, never mind, we'll analyse this later. For now, ramen awaits us!"

"At least I can agree with you on that…" And with that Uzuki and Kariya adjusted their vibes so that they could materialize in the RG, after which they headed straight for their favourite ramen place.


End file.
